South Korea May inflation +3.1% y/y, higher than expected

SEOUL - South Korea's consumer inflation quickened in May to a more than two-year high, exceeding market expectations, on high oil prices triggered by the Middle East conflict.

The consumer price index rose 3.1% from a year earlier, the biggest jump since March 2024, after rising 2.6% in April, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. It was higher than the median 3.0% increase forecast in a Reuters poll.

The index rose 0.5% over the month, the same pace in the previous month but faster than the 0.3% rise expected by economists.

(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 4:15 PM.